Friday, July 28, 2017

My bad. I mixed up the topics this week - that certainly damages my chances of being a saint in a suit. Or jeans. Or sweats. Truth is there is no chance sainthood will land in my vicinity. Canonization is not in my future. Oh darn. Woe is me.

I confess - I have no earthly idea what Pravin had in mind when he came up with this jewel of a topic. I see Ramana invoked Simon Templar - a fave of mine as well. But how does it relate to the topic? Beats me.

In suit. A curious choice of words. Lawsuit? Yves St Laurent suit? Spades, Hearts, Clubs or Diamonds? A lawsuit? In Texas, my former home, suits were often incorrectly referred to in furniture discussions, Living room suits and the like. I have always known that reference to be suites. But Texas is unique - the state fancies itself as a republic and is governed by a wheelchair bound guy named Greg Abbott that refuses to make a left turn - 3 rights make a left there. But the BBQ is spectacular - best ever IMHO.

I know of no saints from the white collar, suited world. Saints typically come from much humbler beginnings where service to mankind is more important. Of course anyone who knows me knows my religious affiliations are less than stellar.

So it seems Pravin got me with his topic. I have often prided myself on checking the topic and writing away. I am pretty much one of those "knows a little about a lot" kinda guys. Not this week. The white flag of surrender is herewith raised.

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Eastern And Western Culture, The Reflections Of Hidden Potential In Between. That is our topic this week. It comes from Ramana's blogger friend from Indonesia - Tikno and Ramana made it this week's topic.My approach is limited by the fact that I have not been to the east - not the east of this topic at least. My observations are limited by my own limited contact with and study of the east but that does include my interaction and friendship with the sage of Pune himself - Ramana. I have jokingly called us brothers from different mothers as over the years we have discovered a remarkable degree of what Ramana calls synchronicity. While absolutely examples of our respective eastern and western cultures we are remarkably similar in many ways including attitudes and thoughts.The differences between western and eastern culture are varied and wide. Eastern culture typically includes Asian nations and Muslim nations whereas Christian nations are considered Western. The geographic split is a bit fuzzier - Europe, North, South and Central America along with Australia/New Zealand being the west. The question becomes whether or not there is any hidden potential between the two.Some Eastern cultures embrace the west and make the best of both worlds. Japan, South Korea, India and to a degree China all fit this model - Japan and Korea have made nenormous advances due to their embrace of the west. They have taken to capitalism like fish to water. There is evidence a similar thing is happening in Vietnam as well. The east has put its own cultural spin on capitalism and adopted capitalism to their own way of education and interpersonal relationships. And if there is a more entrepreneurial society than that in India I am not aware of it.

There are major differences in the way children are educated and raised in the east and the west, religions are different, family interactions are somewhat different - both cultures are family centric. The east tends to be more conservative.Hidden benefits? I think tolerance is a hidden benefit - to interact, both the east and west need to be tolerant of each other. I suggest China is a good example - China is a growing economic power since it embraced capitalism - something not long ago would have been unthinkable (embracing capitalism). The fact that South Korea and Japan have grown into substantial economic powers is another hidden benefit. Vietnam is growing rapidly economically with a GDP approaching 5.2%. We should be so lucky.As the world becomes more interdependent, we all become more global citizens. That is directly contrary to the political forces here that are the base of support for POTUS 45 here. They are most decidedly anti global and very nationalistic. Some might say antagonizing POTUS45 is a hidden benefit. A globalist viewpoint is beneficial to a degree - there is after all only one planet we inhabit. Be sure to see what the other LBC bloggers have to say - Ramana, Pravin, Maria and Ashok

Thursday, July 20, 2017

This week's topic was my suggestion. Back in the day - the days of high school and college - there was a general thought that blue collar work somehow required less intelligence than white collar work. High school classes included things like welding, auto shop, machine shop and the like. People interested in those things had a path to careers in those fields. Other popular blue collar careers were in auto assembly, the gas and electric company and the phone company as well as law enforcement.

In my case my first choice was law enforcement but alas my wife simply stated if I became a cop she would divorce me. She was not prepared to live life wondering if I'd come home alive on any given day. So I started looking for a job in white collar fields with one huge problem - I had no passion for anything available to me. My BA made consisting being a lawyer something to consider but that was no more appealing to me than was repossessing mobile homes - a job I actually held for a couple of years.

Entry level white collar jobs paid quite a bit less than blue collar jobs but they still were relatively easy to fill. As the years progressed the selection of good blue collar jobs began to decline. Two local auto assembly plants closed down.
Good paying jobs still existed - garbage collectors made very good money for example but that career was somewhat unfairly disparaged. I played softball for years with a career garbage man and Bobby loved his well-paying job that had him home by 2PM every day. My white collar jobs had me home daily 3-4 hours later at about half the pay.

In 1976 Lynn was offered a promotion and what seemed like a good job across the country in Connecticut so off we went. Talk about culture shock - LOL. After a year on a different planet we jumped at the chance to go back to California - even though it was in LA.

A while later, Lynn had had enough and resigned. To get back at her I was laid off a month later. Lynn moved back to the SF Bay Area with our newly born daughter and I started working at RadioShack. While not passionate, I did enjoy audio and the micro computer industry was just beginning. White collar lite at best.

Over the years blue collar jobs were still there but again often disparaged. It was not until a TV show - Dirty Jobs and its host Mike Rowe went to bat for blue collar jobs that they began earning some respect. Check out this typical Mike Rowe commentaryhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gu3vcoCecQ

Now in the age of millennials expectations are high and patience is low.Millennials seem to expect instant gratification in everything. Unfortunately, the world still does not work that way. Perhaps that is why millennials move back home at such a high rate.

The auto industry has made a comeback as foreign companies0 like BMW, Kia, Toyota, Volkswagon and others build so many cars here. POTUS 45 would do well to consider that when he takes shots at foreign countries and companies over so-called trade deficits. And several old friends are absolute geniuses when it comes to auto customization - Rich Adkins and Lyn/Del Schuler do amazing stuff.

Any young person that is not a computer genius would do well to do some research into the job market and not rule out a job in the trades. A rewarding life is out there for the serious job seeker.

Friday, July 14, 2017

At this stage of my life - the circling the drain mode - I doubt there is much hidden potential left in me. It has all been exposed, left for dead or ignored. There are not any likely new paths down which I shall wander to make new discoveries. I can, however, look for hidden potential in others - or in other things.

Potential - that which can be. Something capable of becoming reality/actuality. Hidden potential - that which is not immediately obvious. What do you see when you look at something? An old house for example - do you simply see an old house or do you see what it has the potential to be? I am not one of those gifted with the vision or talent to see such things - I simply see an old house but I know folks who have a greater vision in that regard.

Did you ever know someone who excelled at something yet seemingly had no real training in that field?
How about early computer programmers - those involved when the computer industry was still on the taxiway - grew a huge industry all driven by their hidden potential that turned into full blown mastery of that industry. Think Bill Gates, the Apple team and others.

Perhaps our future lies in the as yet untapped hidden potential of some youngster with a crazy dream running through his or her head. The trick is to inspire that youngster to follow that dream wherever that dream may lead. The journey will be rewarding for us all.

That is my quick shack take on Ramanas topic. Check my cohorts at their respective blogs - Ramana, Pravin and Ashok.